Maternity Leave Duration

jblank03 · September 2013

Hi all,
I'm just looking for some opinions on ideal maternity leave length. I know this answer is going to be different for everyone, but I'm just curious for different perspectives. I originally thought I got 13 weeks and that's it, but in talking with some co-workers, they spread out the 13 weeks given with vacation to be able to stay off up to 6 months. I haven't broached the subject with DH yet and of course the longer I'm off, the more financial implications there are, but I'm not due until January so I have time to figure this all out!

Anyway, I'd love to hear what you all have experienced! I do a lot of project-based work, so going partial days or only a couple of days a week isn't really an option; I know I wouldn't be as effective at my job with this type of schedule.

Karla CS · September 2013

I took 16 weeks off, a combination of SDI, vacation, sick, and PDL. I think it was the right amount of time.. Anymore, and going back would have been impossible.

ccam · September 2013

I was home for 6 months and would it again in a heartbeat. I had enough sick/vacation time that I was paid for 4 of the 6 months. If we have a second, I probably won't be so lucky. It is a hard transition going back to work but so worth it.

shannm · September 2013

Part time really wouldn't work for me either. I took about six weeks each time. A few more weeks would have been nice but we made it work.

MamaBovs · September 2013

I took 8 weeks with each of my daughters. Ideally I would like to take 12 weeks for the next one but the last 4 would be unpaid, so we'll see.

KJKNAJ · September 2013

6 weeks with my daughters. It felt too short both times, they seemed so tiny to be dropped off at daycare.

JessAnnJ · September 2013

I took 16 weeks. I originally had planned 12 but was not ready to go back. I used annual and sick leave for 12 weeks and went unpaid the rest. I could have taken up to 6 months but it would have been unpaid.

laurakaz13 · September 2013

I took 14 weeks. I was starting to get a bit antsy at that point, but if I had the option I likely would have stayed home until DD was 5 or 6 months old. Even unpaid would have been fine with me.

QueSrah · September 2013

I was eligible for 16 weeks, and was out about 14.5. I should have gone back to work sooner, because DD was a difficult newborn and I was just miserable being home all day in the middle of winter by the end. I knew going in that I would likely have no sudden desire to be a SAHM, but everyone talks so much about not being ready to go back to work at the end of ML that I thought I *should* stick it out to the end.

financialdiva · September 2013

I took 12 weeks off with both of my kids.

I think 6 months would have been ideal with DS1, and 16 weeks would have been ideal with DS2.

Virgo17 · September 2013

I took 10 weeks with my first, 12 weeks with my second, and 8 weeks with my third. Going back after your first child is the most difficult in my experience. Once you have been through it once, it gets easier.

I think it will depend on a lot of things, what kind of baby you have, if you breastfeed and how that goes, what kind of job you have, etc. In general, I think moms who choose to work really treasure that adult time. I have a great relationship with my co-workers and enjoy my job, so it makes coming back easier. Of course I miss my kids, but we are all excited to see each other at the end of the day.

I would plan on at least 8-10 weeks and then see how you feel after delivery. If baby is sleeping fairly well and you feel ready, there is no reason to take off as long as you possibly can. However, if you feel like you need the extra time and can swing it financially, then do that too. It is certainly a very personal decision.

TheBorg7of9 · September 2013

I am taking 20 weeks: 16 paid, 2 unpaid, 2 weeks of vacation. The answer is take as much as you can afford financiall

jlaOK · September 2013

I took 11 weeks with DS and 8 weeks with DD.

I always advice to plan for the max amount you can take/afford. You can always go back earlier if you want to or need to.

skyejo · September 2013

My company offers 16 weeks paid which is what I took with both girls. If I had to dip into vacation time or take unpaid leave I'm not sure I'd go that route. I feel like 4 months was a lot of time and I was able to use my vacation days for two actual vacations this year rather than to extent my mat leave.

traveltheworld · September 2013

I'm in Canada so we get 1 year mat leave. My company pays for 4 months of mat leave at full salary; and after that, you'd just get the government mat leave benefits. I'm the primary income generator and the difference between governmental benefits vs. my full salary was too great for me to take any longer. So I took 4 months. I also had 3 weeks of vacation but I chose to take those later in the year when DS was older so that we could go on fun vacations (I broke it out in two vacations) and gave myself something to look forward to. Honestly I think it depends on your career and how much you enjoy staying home. I'm not a baby person so I was happy to be back at work after 4 months. Quite honestly babies don't do very much in the first 6 months. I was really glad I saved my vacation time for later when DS was much more interactive and fun.

ASmallWonder · September 2013

I got 13 weeks paid with my first. This time I got 6 weeks STD and then was able to take up to 6 more weeks unpaid but covered by FMLA. I ended up taking 10 weeks total.

Just be careful to clarify your job's policy of extending your FMLA covered leave by using vacation. Some places allow it and some do not. Mine does not. Once your 12 weeks of FMLA are up you have to come back or your job is at risk.

lollipoppoop · September 2013

I will be taking 11 weeks 3 weeks vacay, 6 weeks STD and 2 unpaid.

SebsMum · September 2013

I'm in the UK and we get 9 months of mat leave benefits after 6 weeks of 90% pay, so I took the full 9 months (I lined it up so it coincided with returning to school after the summer holiday, which was lucky). It was a bit long and I was ready to return to work, getting dressed and adult interaction. However, that leave time was a special time for DS and me, so I really value it and plan to take the 9 months again if/when we have #2.

michaelaskedlauren · September 2013

I was job protected for 18 weeks for my first, and I should be 20 weeks job protected with my second and I plan to take all of it. I had to great creative with my PTO to ensure I was paid for as long as possible (Ill prob be able to squeak out half the time), but it was worth it.

Fullcircle06 · September 2013

I took 12 weeks and I honestly could/would have taken at least 2 more if it would have been feasible financially (the majority of my time was unpaid because I hadn't been at my job very long). I don't think I could have gone back before 10 weeks, but it was great to be able to take 12.

DTNZ4Ever · September 2013

12 weeks. 2 weeks sick, 6 weeks STD 4 weeks unpaid or any vacation time I have. So out of my 4 weeks unpaid I'm really only unpaid 3 days.

WBMom · September 2013

I took off the 12 weeks that were guaranteed by FMLA: 6 weeks paid at 60% of my pay for STD and 6 weeks unpaid. My company does not allow any extra time off after FMLA ends - FMLA ends = come back to work. I wish I could have taken more time since this was my 3rd ML I was loving it - not nearly as overwhelming as my 1st ML.

SoMoNY · September 2013

Thinking of taking 10 weeks off from the start and using next 6 weeks over time to ease back into things. Probably 4 days in office and 1 day home for 2 months following my return.

My job is great, all the time off is paid at 100% plus I'll have 6-7 weeks of PTO in 2014 after I return in March.

cwm11985 · September 2013

I took off 10 weeks; I was lucky in that 4 of them were during the summer (I teach) so I was still paid for those 4. Because I had my LO in July I didn't qualify for STD (I was paying for a plan for mat leave but you actually have to be working for our company to pay you the STD benefits, so that threw me for a loop so we could only afford for me to take off the first 6 weeks of school). With this new LO I plan to take off 10 weeks again, but only because its only 10 weeks from my due date until the last day of school. If the kid comes earlier I'll still take off the rest of the year, unless I'll go over 12 weeks in which case my FMLA time is up.

jblank03 · September 2013

Great advice everyone! I do really wish we had mat benefits like Canada or most of Europe, but what can you do.... Definitely has given me a lot to think about and some things I'll make sure I look into as I'm planning my leave.

iverske9 · September 2013

I am a bit on the other side, I took 12 weeks and could feel myself going stir crazy, LOL. I was lucky my son was pretty easy and I love him to pieces but between the breastfeeding and missing adult interaction I am looking to take less this time around. Only you will know how you feel, I suggest taking as much as your work or finances allow and if you want to change than you can on maternity leave.

st.augbride · October 2013

With both ds and dd I managed to get close to 6 months off between maternity leave, vacation and working from home here and there. I feel that 6 months is ideal.

mommymegan831 · October 2013

I took 6 months off with each of my kid and it was perfect. I got to really, really enjoy the time I was home with them. They weren't sleepy babies the whole time, I also appreciated that when I went back they were sleeping through the night. I had planned on breast feeding, it didn't work out, but if it had my plan was also to wean around 6 months so I didn't have to worry about pumping.

mommymegan831 · October 2013

BTW, I'm a teacher and most of my leave, especially w/ #2, was unpaid.

Strunella · October 2013

I'm also due in January and trying to decide how long I'm going to take for leave. With DS, I took 13 weeks. That was 6 weeks paid, 4 weeks vacation and 3 weeks unpaid. I'm with a new company now with a more generous leave policy. Like you, I can take a total of 6 months off and I really think that's what I'm going to try to do. 19 weeks will be fully paid with leave and vacation time and the remaining 7 weeks would be partial salary. I kind of feel like I'll never have the opportunity to take 6 months off again, so I might as well try to take advantage of this benefit while having job security.

If you can't swing 6 months off financially, maybe there's a happy medium. I would try to take as much time as you can without killing your finances.

Divallyn · October 2013

Another Canadian here ... I took off 9 months and my hubby did the last 3 months. Daycares around here won't take kids younger than 12mths due to our country maternity legislation. I went back early as I was offered a promotion so my hubs did the last bit of leave. I was very glad to have the time I did and can't imagine going back before 4 months as I was still a zombie then but that said it took me a lot longer to get back into the swing of things at my job than I expected.

CarolynTheRed · October 2013

Another Canadian - my daughter started daycare at ~9 months (she's in a licensed home daycare, 3 days a week). I was starting to feel a real need to get back to something other than baby care, at least part time, around 6 months. If we have another, I'll probably take around 6-9 months again.

cecilyandgautam · October 2013

One thing to consider, that I didn't realize before my ML, is that if a lot of the family benefits are on your job, ie - health insurance, health savings account, etc, that your employer will probably keep those active for you while you're on leave but if you take leave without pay, you won't be paying into those benefits for all those weeks you take without pay. You'll have to proportionately pay in more for each week you do work for the remainder of the year to catch up on your share of the costs. So, not only would you forgo your salary for the unpaid time off, but your take home pay for the remainder of the year would be less. I planned on the weeks without pay, and I even planned on the bigger but fewer contributions to the my health savings account. I didn't fully realize my health insurance contributions would be bigger for the remainder of the year.

dizzycooks · October 2013

I get 12 weeks unpaid FMLA during which I need to use my sick time (all seven days, yahoo) and then the rest is unpaid. Since it will hit one month before school is out I will probably just stay out that month and then have the summer off. I will end up with 6 months unpaid (except those 7 day, lol) and I am looking forward to it.

jblank03 · October 2013

cecilyandgautam said:

One thing to consider, that I didn't realize before my ML, is that if a lot of the family benefits are on your job, ie - health insurance, health savings account, etc, that your employer will probably keep those active for you while you're on leave but if you take leave without pay, you won't be paying into those benefits for all those weeks you take without pay. You'll have to proportionately pay in more for each week you do work for the remainder of the year to catch up on your share of the costs. So, not only would you forgo your salary for the unpaid time off, but your take home pay for the remainder of the year would be less. I planned on the weeks without pay, and I even planned on the bigger but fewer contributions to the my health savings account. I didn't fully realize my health insurance contributions would be bigger for the remainder of the year.

Great point. I talked to some co-workers, and you actually have to pay it out of pocket each pay period you go on unpaid FMLA. A lot of people I talked to did one week FMLA one week of vacation time so you're not actually having to pay the company every two weeks. It's bummer enough to not get a check but to actually have to PAY to be off, not fun.

skibunny59 · October 2013

My advice: take the 6 months as long as you and your DH can afford it. I took 6 months with my DD. First 6 weeks were full pay then it was summer break so no pay (I'm a teacher) and then once school started again had 6 weeks where I got partial pay and then no pay for the last 6 weeks.

It was awesome to be off for 6 months. I would have loved to have taken more time but we just couldn't afford it.

McKinneyAE · October 2013

My job only offers 6 weeks and I can use whatever I have available in sick leave and vacation, which is probably not going to be much after I go to all these doctors appointments. It seems like so little time to spend with your little one before returning back to work.

kanga1622Wed220857 · October 2013

I took 12 weeks both times as that is the most I can take under FMLA and still be guaranteed a job when I returned.

groovygrl · October 2013

I had 5 months off b/c I was working in academics at the time and that is how FMLA worked there- you take a full semester, and my kids were born a few weeks before the semester started so the timing was pretty great (which is hilarious b/c they were IVF/FET babies and there was no planning/timing, just pure luck but everyone I worked with assumed we 'planned' it that way). 5 months was great for me b/c I felt like I had a lot of time with them but I was definitely ready to go back & not feeling a lot of angst by the time I did.

PunkyBooster · October 2013

Another 16 weeker here. I added to FMLA 2 weeks of vaca and took 2 weeks unpaid.
Maternity coverage in the US sucks but I feel fortunate to have taken what I did. We are tentatively ttc #2 but trying to avoid until I would have a due date 12 months after my start date to qualify for FMLA again.

SLGILL1978 · October 2013

I took 10 weeks off. I took one week before my scheduled induction. I used my personal leave and vacation time that was about a week and a couple days worth of pay. Then for 8 weeks I used my short term disability (66.6% of my pay). Since I ultimately had a c section, I got 8 weeks of short term disability pay. The last week of my maternity coincided with our Spring Break which I never get paid for anyway. I didn't take any longer time off because I work for the school district. When I returned in April there was only 6 weeks left of school before I was off for the summer.

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